LEXINGTON, Ky. — Trazarien White scored a career-high 27 factors to steer UNC-Wilmington to an 80-73 victory over No. 12 Kentucky on Saturday.
The Seahawks (6-2) constructed a 14-point lead within the first half, main 41-33 on the break. UNC-Wilmington held off a second-half rally by the Wildcats, who have been up 55-49 with 12:51 remaining.
White scored 18 of the final 31 factors. It was the primary street win in opposition to a ranked opponent in class historical past and the largest for this system since defeating Southern California within the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
“This is a big-time win for us and a confidence booster,” White stated. “We will celebrate a little bit, get back to our process, because we don’t want to revert back to before now we’re on the high road.”
Donovan Newby scored 15 factors, Shykeim Phillips added 13 and KJ Jenkins had 11 for UNC-Wilmington within the first assembly between the 2 faculties.
UNC-Wilmington coach Takayo Siddle performed on a Gardner-Webb workforce that defeated then-No. 20 Kentucky 84-68 on Nov. 20, 2007. He defeated the Wildcats as a coach the primary time he confronted them.
Siddle talked about the win “briefly” to his squad, however needed his workforce to give attention to the duty at hand.
“It was so long ago, but my message was believe. Anything can happen and little Gardner-Webb came in here back in 2007 and we had the same outcome,” he stated. “I think they understood the message I was trying to get across to them.”
Kentucky, one in all he top-scoring groups within the nation, was held 20 factors beneath its scoring common. The Wildcats (6-2) have been averaging 94.4 factors per recreation coming into the competition.
“They deserved to win the game and they did,” Kentucky coach John Calipari stated. “I would have liked to have tried to steal the game from them, but they deserved to win it. They played well.”
Reed Sheppard led Kentucky with 25 factors. Kentucky main scorer Antonio Reeves scored 14 factors earlier than he fouled out with 2:56 remaining. Justin Edwards and Tre Mitchell scored 11 factors every for the Wildcats.
Kentucky’s 7-foot-1 freshman middle Aaron Bradshaw made his debut after lacking the primary seven video games due to an injured foot. Bradshaw scored three factors in his first outing with the Wildcats.
Kentucky was with out level guard D.J. Wagner, who injured his ankle on Tuesday’s win over the Hurricanes.
CONNECTIONS
Calipari started his enjoying profession at UNC-Wilmington and performed for the Seahawks for 2 seasons earlier than transferring to Clarion.
BIG PICTURE
UNC-Wilmington: The Seahawks performed their final 5 video games away from house, together with two contests within the Fort Myers Tip-Off, however will get an eight-day break. After internet hosting Montreat on Dec. 10, UNC-Wilmington will play 5 extra on the street, together with a recreation at Arkansas on Dec. 30.
Kentucky: The Wildcats play their subsequent three video games on the street, together with two at impartial websites. The Wildcats dedicated 14 turnovers in opposition to the Seahawks and made a season-low 5 3-pointers.
NEXT UP
Kentucky performs Penn at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday.
UNC-Wilmington hosts Montreat on Dec. 10.
